How was the Electoral College in the US related to slavery?

by BaronBifford

I've heard here and there that the Electoral College should be scrapped because it's purpose was to favor the slave states somehow. How was this so? What advantage/disadvantage did the slave states have in the Electoral College system?

NYSenseOfHumor
  • The voting population of slave states was small compared to it's total population, free and slave.
  • Due to the 3/5 compromise slaves counted for the purposes of apportionment.
  • Congressional representation determines the number of electoral votes a state has.
  • The North had a larger population and was growing. By the Civil War the North had a population of 18.5 million plus the border states. The South had a population of 5.5 million free and 3.5 million slaves.

Because of these factors slave states had more relative voting power in the EC than they would if a national popular vote was used.

President Lincoln won only 40% of the popular vote. He recieved 180 electoral votes, 69 more than the combined total of the two southern candidates who received a total of 111.

69 EV is about 40% of the total EV in 1860. By comparison in 2016 President Trump won by 77 EV or about 14% of the total EV in 2016.